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Wednesday, February 29, 2012

This
is the UN Security Council statement on Syria proposed by France and
co-drafted by the UK on Wednesday, adopted on Thursday March 1, 2012.

"The
members of the Security Council express their deep disappointment
that Ms. Valerie Amos, United Nations Under-Secretary-General
for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, was not
granted authorization to visit Syria bythe
Syrian Government in a timely manner, despite repeated requests and
intense diplomatic contacts aimed at securing Syrian approval.
The members of the Security Council call upon the Syrian authorities
to grant the coordinator immediate and unhindered access.

The
members of the Security Council deplore the
rapidly deteriorating humanitarian situation, in particular the
growing number of affected civilians, the lack of safe access to
adequate medical services, and food shortages, particularly in areas
affected by fighting and violence such as Homs, Hama, Deraa, and
Idlib.

The
members of the Security Council call uponthe
Syrian authorities to allow immediate, full and unimpeded access of
humanitarian personnel to all populations in need of assistance, in
accordance with international law and guiding principles of
humanitarian assistance. They call upon all parties in Syria, in
particular the Syrian authorities, to cooperate fully with the United
Nations and relevant humanitarian organizations to facilitate the
provision of humanitarian assistance and allow evacuation of the
wounded from affected areas."

This text was submitted on February 27, and adopted on Thursday March 1, 2012.

The Russian Federation requested a vote. Resolution adopted by 37 yes, 3 no, 3 abstention, 4 absent (see scanned version of the result). Burkina Faso which appears among the absent came later to publicly and formally explain that should her delegation been in the room during the voting process, it would have voted in favour of the draft.

Having held an urgent debate to
discuss the escalating grave human rights violations and the deteriorating
humanitarian situation in the Syrian Arab Republic,

Expressing grave concern at the deterioration of
the situation in the Syrian Arab Republic, in particular the ongoing human
rights violations and use of violence by the Syrian authorities against its
population,resulting in a humanitarian crisis,

Reaffirming its strong commitment to
the sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity of the Syrian
Arab Republic and to the principles of the Charter of the United Nations,

1. This report of the
Director General to the Board of Governors and, in parallel, to the Security
Council, is on the implementation of the NPT Safeguards Agreement1 and relevant
provisions of Security Council resolutions in the Islamic Republic of Iran
(Iran).

2. The Security Council
has affirmed that the steps required by the Board of Governors in its
resolutions (2) are binding on Iran. (3)
The relevant provisions of the aforementioned Security Council resolutions were
adopted under Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter, and are mandatory, in
accordance with the terms

of
those resolutions. (4)

3. By virtue of its
Relationship Agreement with the United Nations,5 the Agency is required to cooperate with
the Security Council in the exercise of the Council’s responsibility for the
maintenance or restoration of international peace and security. All Members of
the United Nations agree to accept and carry out the decisions of the Security
Council,6
and in this respect, to take actions which are consistent with their obligations
under the United Nations Charter.

4. This report addresses
developments since the last report (GOV/2011/65, 8 November 2011), as well as issues
of longer standing. It focuses on those areas where Iran has not fully
implemented its binding obligations, as the full implementation of these
obligations is needed to establish international confidence inthe exclusively
peaceful nature of Iran’s nuclear programme.

B.
Clarification of Unresolved Issues

5. On 18 November 2011,
the Board of Governors adopted resolution GOV/2011/69 in which, inter alia, it
stressed that it was essential for Iran and the Agency to intensify their
dialogue aimed at the urgent resolution of all outstanding substantive issues
for the purpose of providing clarifications regarding those issues, including
access to all relevant information, documentation, sites, material, and
personnel in Iran. The Board also called on Iran to engage seriously and
without preconditions in talks aimed at restoring international confidence in
the exclusively peaceful nature of Iran’s nuclear programme. In light of this,
and following an exchange of letters between the Agency and Iran, it was agreed
that an Agency team would visit Iran for talks.

6. From 29 to 31 January
2012, an Agency team held a first round of talks in Tehran with Iranian
officials aimed at resolving all outstanding issues. During the talks:

Thursday, February 23, 2012

1. The first
meeting of the Group of Friends of Syria (“the Group”), was held
in Tunis on 24 February 2012, and was co-chaired by Qatar and
Tunisia, with the participation of [60] countries and representatives
from the United Nations, the League of Arab States, the European
Union, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation and the Cooperation
Council for the Arab Gulf States to discuss the worsening situation
in Syria.

2. The Friends’
Group reaffirmed its firm commitment to the sovereignty,
independence, national unity and territorial integrity of Syria. It
expressed strong condemnation of the Syrian regime’s ongoing,
widespread, and systematic human rights violations, including: the
indiscriminate use of force against civilians; the killing and
persecution of peaceful protestors and journalists; and sexual
violence and ill-treatment of thousands of detainees, including
children. The Syrian authorities’ brutal actions over the past
eleven months have led to the death of thousands of innocent
civilians, caused widespread destruction, forced tens of thousands of
Syrians to flee their homes, and created widespread suffering among
the Syrian people. Its use of heavy artillery and tanks to attack
residential areas of cities and towns is particularly reprehensible.
This violence, as the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has said,
may amount to crimes against humanity.

3. The Friends’
Group affirmed its goal of a peaceful non-military solution to this
crisis that meets the aspirations of the Syrian people for dignity,
freedom, peace, reform, democracy, prosperity and stability. The
Friends’ Group recognized the genuine concerns of religious and
ethnic minorities (Alawi, Christian, Druze, Kurdish, Turkmen, and
others) in Syria.

Support
for the League of Arab States

4. The Friends’
Group commended the League of Arab States for their leadership on
this issue and welcomed the League’s actions and proposals to
achieve a peaceful resolution of

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

The
following Security Council press statement was issued on Feb. 22 by
Council President Kodjo Menan(Togo)
on Yemen:

The
members of the Security Council welcomed the holding of the
Presidential election on 21 February. They congratulated the people
of Yemen for the overall peaceful manner in which the elections were
held and the encouraging levels of participation.

The
members of the Security Council underlined that this election is a
significant step in the implementation of the political transition
plan agreed to by Yemen’s major political parties, based on the
Gulf Cooperation Council initiative. They reaffirmed their strong
commitment to the unity, sovereignty, independence and territorial
integrity of Yemen.

The
members of the Security Councilencouraged
all stakeholders in Yemen to work together, with strong international
support, to continue with the next stage of transition as set out in
the implementation mechanism in order to achieve unity and security
in Yemen. This includes the fully inclusive National Dialogue, the
constitutional review and the programme of reforms to tackle the
profound security, humanitarian and economic challenges that Yemen
faces.

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

PP1 Recalling
all previous resolutions on the situation in Somalia, in particular resolution
2010 (2011), as well as other relevant Presidential Statements and resolutions
on protection of civilians in armed conflict, women and peace and security, and
children and armed conflict,

PP2 Reaffirming
its respect for the sovereignty, territorial integrity, political independence
and unity of Somalia, and reiterating its commitment to a comprehensive and
lasting settlement of the situation in Somalia,

PP3 Reiterating
its full support for the Djibouti Peace Process and the Transitional Federal
Charter which provide the framework for reaching a lasting political solution
in Somalia, reiterating its support for the Kampala Accord and the Roadmap to
End the Transition (the “Roadmap”), and stressing the need for reconciliation,
dialogue and broad-based, inclusive and representative Somali institutions,

The UN General Assembly resolution on Syria. It was drafted by the Arab League and adopted on Thursday Feb. 16, 2012

The General Assembly,

Recalling its resolution 66/176 of 19 December 2011, as well as Human Rights Council resolutions S/16-1, S/17-1 and S/18-1,

Expressinggrave concern at the deterioration of the situation in Syria, in particular the ongoing human rights violations and use of violence by the Syrian authorities against its population,

Reaffirming the role of regional and sub regional organizations in the maintenance of international peace and security as set out in Chapter VIII of the Charter,

Reaffirming its strong commitment to the sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity of Syria, and to the principles of the Charter,Reaffirming that all Member states of the United Nations should refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any State or act in any other manner inconsistent with the purposes of the United Nations,

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Russia proposed to add (or drop) these highlighted paragraphs to the text:

"The General Assembly,

Recalling its resolution 66/176 of 19
December 2011, as well as Human Rights Council resolutions S/16-1, S/17-1 and
S/18-1,

Expressinggrave concern at the deterioration of the situation in Syria, in
particular the ongoing human rights violations and use of violence by the
Syrian authorities against its population,

Reaffirming the role of regional and
subregional organizations in the maintenance of international peace and
security as set out in Chapter VIII of the Charter,

Reaffirming its
strong commitment to the sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial
integrity of Syria, and to the principles of the Charter,

Reaffirming that all Member states of
the United Nations should refrain in their international relations from the
threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political
independence of any State,interference in internal
affairs of independent statesor acts in any other
manner inconsistent with the purposes of the United Nations,

Welcoming the engagement
of the Secretary-General and all diplomatic efforts aimed at ending the crisis,

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

The full text of the report as submitted to the Arab League secretary general Nabil Al-Arabi on January 22, 2012

League of Arab States Observer
Mission to Syria

Report of the Head of the League of
Arab States Observer Mission to Syria for the period from 24 December 2011 to
18 January 2012

In the name of God, the Merciful,
the Compassionate

“We offered the trust to the
heavens and the earth and the mountains, but they refused to carry it, and were
afraid of it; and man carried it. Surely he is sinful, very foolish” [Qur’an 33:72]

I . Legal bases

1. By resolution 7436 of 2 November
2011, the Council of the League of Arab States adopted the Arab plan of action
annexed thereto, welcomed the Syrian Government’s agreement to the plan, and
emphasized the need for the Syrian Government to commit to the full and
immediate implementation of its provisions.

2. On 16 November 2011, the Council
of the League of Arab States adopted resolution 7439 approving the draft
protocol of the Legal Centre and the mandate of the League of Arab States
Observer Mission to Syria, namely to verify implementation of the provisions of
the Arab plan of action to resolve the Syrian crisis and protect Syrian
civilians. The resolution requested the Secretary-General of the League of Arab
States to take such steps as he deemed appropriate to appoint the Head of the
League of Arab States Observer Mission and to make contact with the Syrian
Government with a view to signing the protocol.

3. By resolution 7441 of 24
November 2011, the Council of the League of Arab States requested the
Secretary-General of the League to deploy the Observer Mission to the Syrian
Arab Republic in order to fulfil its mandate under the protocol immediately on
its signature.